testing grammar and vocabulary

TESTING GRAMMAR AND VOCABULARY

Why test Grammar ?

A. Testing Grammar

- Control of grammatical structures was seen as the very core of language ability.

- The backwash effect of test which measure mastery of the skills directly may be thought preferable to that of test which encourages the learning of grammatical structures in isolation.

- The testing of grammar is one of the mainstays of language testing. While such tests test the ability to either recognize or produce correct grammar and usage, they do not test the ability to use the language to express meaning (Kenji, 2007).

However, it can be argued that a basic knowledge of grammar underlies the ability to use language to express meaning, and so grammar tests do have an important part to play in language programs. According to Alderson (1991) “English grammar is chiefly a system of syntax that decides the order and patterns in which words are arranged in sentences”

Proficiency test which are administered on a large scale still retain a grammar section because it must the ease with large numbers of items can administered and scored within a short period of time. Related to that is the question of content validity. for example, if we decide to test writing ability directly we are limited in the number of topics, styles of writing, etc. the sample chosen is not truly representatives of all possibilities. Of course, grammar test includes a good sample of all possible grammatical elements.

Achievement test, placement and diagnostics test of teaching institution is good to include a grammar component.

There have been other suggestions for how to test communicative grammar but none that have gained wide acceptance. This may be because it is impossible to measure communicative grammar directly. Thraser (2000) says that in order for a test to measure communicative grammar it must have five characteristics.

1. The test must provide more context than only a single sentence.

2. The test taker should understand what the communicative purpose of the task is.

3. He or she should also know who the intended audience is.

4. He or she must have to focus on meaning and not only form to answer correctly.

5. Recognition is not sufficient. The test taker must be able “to produce grammatical

responses.”

Writing Specifications

For achievement test, specification of content should be quite straightforward. Specification for a placement test will normally include all of being structures identified in this way. Those structures the command of which is taken for granted in even the lowest classes.

Sampling

This will reflect an attempt to give the test content validity by selecting widely from the structures specified.

Writing Items

The techniques of writing items:

(1) Paraphrase

These require the students to write a sentence equivalent in meaning to one that is given. it is helpful to give part of the paraphrase in order to restrict the students to the grammatical structure being tested.

For example:

(a) Testing passive

- When we arrived, a policeman was questioning the bank clerk.

When we arrived, the bank clerk ……………………………..

(b) Testing Present Perfect with for

It is six since I last saw him

I ………… six years

(2) Completion

This technique can be used to test a variety of structure

For example:

Mr Gilbert : Good morning. Mr.Cole. Please come in and sit down. Now let me see. (1) Which School …………..?

Mr Cole : Whitestone College.

(3) Modified Cloze

For example:

(a) Testing Preposition Place

- John looked round the room. The book was still ….. the table.

(b) Testing Articles

- In England children go to … school from Monday to Friday.

(c) Testing a Variety of grammatical Structures

- When the old man died,….was probably no great joy ….. heaven

(d) Testing sentence linking (a one-word answer is required)

- The council must do something to improve transport in the city. ……., they will lose the next election.

For valid and reliable scoring of grammar items of the kind advocated here, careful of the scoring key is necessary.

For example:

(a) Paraphrase

- Must have was being ….. ed- à 1 point

(b) Completion

à Whole mark for each question formed correctly with auxiliary and inversion and with tense suitable to context.

(c) Modified Cloze

Preposition Articles

on NA

under/beneath the

Varius Structures

There

in

Sentence linking

otherwise

B. TESTING VOCABULARY

Why Test Vocabulary?

1) Knowledge of vocabulary is essential to the development and demonstration of linguistic skills.

2) Testing vocabulary in proficiency tests used to support the inclusion the inclusion of grammar section.

3) Vocabulary achievement tests are appreciated for their backwash effect.

Writing Specifications

How do we specify the vocabulary for an achievement test?

à To add all the new items that the students have met in other activities (reading, listening, etc)

à To group the items in terms of their relative importance

Sampling

Words can be grouped according to their frequency and usefulness

Item Writing

we can test vocabulary by using synonyms, having the test taker select or supply the appropriate word to fill a blank, or by examining what test takers write or speak to decide if their word choice is acceptable or not (Thraser, 2000).

Recognition

Items may involve a number of different operations (multiple Choices):

a) Synonym

A good vocabulary test should present the words to be tested in as similar way as possible to the way they will be encountered in the real world. And the test taker shouldn’t have to guess which meaning of a word the test writer had in mind.

For example, An item testing ‘record’ in isolation might confuse students who first thought of a different meaning than the test writer is using.

To record a. to listen to b. to complete c. to understand d. to write down

b) Definitions

The ‘definitions’ would be the answer choices. That is, I would like to test ‘loathe’ in this way.

For example, Bill is someone I loathe.

a. like very much b. dislike intensely c. respect d. fear

c) Gap Filling

For example,

The strong wind _____ the man’s efforts to put up the tent.

a. disabled b. hampered c. deranged d. regaled

Production

It is intended only for possible use in achievement test.

a) Pictures

b) Definitions

this may work for a range of lexical items:

For example: A …… is a person who looks after our teeth

c) Gap filling

This can take the form of one or more sentences with single word missing

For example: Because of snow, the football match was ….. until the following weeks

Sentence Items

Another option is to test the vocabulary item by putting it in a sentence and having the testees choose the alternative that has the same meaning as a word in the sentence that is underlined, in italics, in bold type, etc. This is a preferred type of multiple choice vocabulary item, since the problem item appears in context and the context helps give the vocabulary word a specific meaning. However, in this case, the testee should not be able to surmise the meaning of the word from the context, unless the intention of the item is to test that skill (Kitao and Kitao, 2008).

REFERENCES

Alderson, Charles. & Brian. North (eds.) (1991) Language Testing in the 1990s: The

Communicative Legacy Modern English Publications in association with The British Council

Hughes, Arthur. 2000. Testing for Language Teachers. United Kingdom,UK:Cambridge University Press

Kitao, S. Kathleen and Kitao, Kenji. 2008. Testing Vocabulary. On-line

(http://www1.doshisha.ac.jp/~kkitao/library/article/test/vocab.htm, accessed on 14 March 2009

Kitao, Kenji. 2007. Testing Grammar. On-Line (

http://iteslj.org/Articles/Kitao-TestingGrammar.html, accessed on 14 March 2009)

Thrasher, Randy. 2000. Test Theory and Test Design. On-line

(http://subsite.icu.ac.jp/people/randy/Test%20text%20grammar%20mcw.pdf. Accessed on 14 March, 2009)